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After nearly 10 years of standing tall as one of the industry's biggest and most popular live-service multiplayer games, Bungie's space fantasy looter shooter Destiny 2 is coming to an end. The studio announced development for the title was ending last month, with its final content update Monument of Triumph releasing last week.
Fans have rallied to push Bungie and Sony — which acquired the developer in 2022 — to greenlight the creation of a Destiny 3, with a Change.org petition for a sequel reaching nearly 400,000 signatures and player numbers skyrocketing for Monument of Triumph. Ultimately, though, I can't help but feel that the future for Destiny as a series looks bleak.
For many (myself included), that feeling has only been worsened by recent reports that Bungie will soon face a large wave of layoffs in the wake of Destiny 2's end. The first of these came from journalist Sylvain Trinel on Tuesday, who wrote that "at least 50% of the workforce" — potentially including roughly 400 in-house developers and contractors — will likely be cut this summer.
Paul Tassi, Forbes' Bungie and Destiny expert in contact with sources at the studio, then went on to partially corroborate Trinel's report. Though he doesn't "want to commit to a percent," Tassi says layoffs at Bungie are coming, and that they'll be "significant."
"I don’t want to commit to a percent, but it’s going to be significant. They don’t have a greenlit new project, and they can hardly throw 400 more devs on Marathon," Tassi wrote.
I don’t want to commit to a percent, but it’s going to be significant. They don’t have a greenlit new project, and they can hardly throw 400 more devs on MarathonYou will also see some leadership/OGs leave in I believe July, which is when Sony deal cash vests for many of them https://t.co/ovpy0toK4xJune 17, 2026
He also noted that he expects some veteran talent and devs in leadership positions to depart next month as they collect cash payouts from Sony: "You will also see some leadership/OGs leave in I believe July, which is when Sony deal cash vests for many of them."
These reports come soon after former Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert provided insight into the game's steady decline in recent years that ultimately led to the conclusion of its development.
Specifically, she asserted that "a lot of money didn't go into Destiny" and that leadership pocketed many of the game's potential funds, stating that Bungie's new extraction shooter Marathon had much less of an impact than many fans assume.
Ruppert also claimed that Sony's merger with Bungie was an "emergency acquisition" agreed to for financial reasons, and that the studio would have been "very close to shutting its doors" if it didn't sell to the PlayStation publisher.
Assuming these reports are accurate — and do keep in mind that Tassi in particular has a track record of reporting on events at Bungie very accurately — the studio and its Destiny IP has some very dark days ahead. Even more game industry layoffs on top of the countless cuts suffered at Bungie and other studios would be devastating, and they'd also dash many hopes for an eventual Destiny 3 made by the talent responsible for so many years of Destiny 2's success.
How do you feel about Bungie, Destiny 2, and the possibility of a massive layoff wave at the studio? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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